Stripper member for doffing cylinder of textile fiber openers



Dec. 17, 1957 BROWN ETAL 2,816,324

STRIPPER MEMBER FOR DOFFING CYLINDER 0F TEXTILE FIBER OPENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 4, 1954 INVENTORS IV'l/ium 'i-l/armon 1957 J. E. BROWN ETAL STRIPPER MEMBER FOR DOFFING CYLINDER OF TEXTILE FIBER OPENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 4, 1954 llie grates Patent STRIPPER MEMBER FOR DOFFING CYLINDER OF TEXTILE FEER OPENERS Joseph E. Brown and William A. Harmon, Columbus, Ga., assignors to Cen-Tennial Cotton Gin Company, a corporation of Georgia Application November 4, 1954, Serial No. 466,792

7 Claims. (Cl. 19-93) Our invention relates to openers for textile fibers and relates more specifically to an improved cut-off or stripper member for the kicker roll or dotfer cylinder found in certain types of such openers.

An object of our invention is to associate closely with the periphery of the dofling cylinder of a textile opener a stripper member extending substantially across the entire length of the cylinder, which stripper member is mounted for movement away from the cylinder, whereby the stripper member in normal operation strips the cylinder of fiber and yet is free to move away from the surface thereof when the cylinder carries around tufts or wads of fiber, thus preventing choking of the apparatus.

A further object of our invention is to provide a textile fiber opener embodying the usual doffing cylinder or kicker roll and which has associated therewith a stripper member extending alongside the periphery of the doffing cylinder, across its entire length, the stripper member being spring biased toward the periphery of the cylinder and normally spaced therefrom with very close clearance, thus assuring that the dofiing cylinder is cleaned at all times and yet permitting the stripper member to move away from the doffing cylinder in the event the cylinder carries around tufts of fiber, thus preventing choking of the machine and eliminating the necessity of a separate fiber flue for conveying away the fiber from the dofling cylinder.

Briefly, our invention contemplates an improvement for association with a more or less standardized form of textile fiber opener. One specific form of such apparatus is shown in Bulletin No. 534) of the Cen-Tennial Cotton Gin Company, Columbus, Georgia. In the apparatus shown in that bulletin, the fiber to be opened is fed on an apron or the like to a series of vertically superposed opening cylinders. Spaced forwardly of the uppermost one of the vertical cylinders is another opening cylinder. Spaced forwardly of the last mentioned opening cylinder is a dofiing cylinder which serves the purpose of removing fiber from the other opening cylinder and serves to give momentum to the stock fed to the machine and causes it to form an enlarged loose rotating mass or roll. As shown in said bulletin the apparatus in question has associated with the forward side of the dofling cylinder a fixed stripper in the form of an angle which extends across the machine, and which is spaced close to the periphery of the doffing cylinder. Above the dofling cylinder there is shown a fiber duct or flue which is connected to the main fiber flue leading from the apparatus. In our invention we eliminate the fiber flue leading from the dofiing cylinder in question. The elimination of this flue is made possible by our spring biased mounting of the cut off member or stripper, in our improved apparatus the same being spring biased toward the periphery of the dofling cylinder. Further, we provide means for adjusting each end of the stripper member whereby accurate alignment may be obtained and the desired clearance between the stripper and the periphery of the saw cylinder is maintained throughout its length.

2,816,324 Patented Dec. 17, 1957 ice Apparatus illustrating the features of our invention is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational somewhat diagrammatic view, partly broken away and in section and showing our improved spring biased stripper member associated with a textile fiber opener generally of the type indicated in the above mentioned bulletin;

Fig. 2 is a detail enlarged fragmental view of one end of the movable and spring biased stripper member;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken generally along line IlIlII of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken generally along line IV-IV of Fig. 3 and showing the relative position of our improved adjustable and spring biased stripper member relative to the periphery of the doffing cylinder.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of our invention we illustrate in Fig. 1 a textile fiber opener which may embody a feed apron 10 driven by any suitable means in the direction indicated by the arrows 11. The apparatus comprises side walls 12 and 13 between which the fiber to be opened is delivered by the upper surface of the apron 10. Above the feed apron 10 is a curved plate 14 forming a front for the apparatus and which defines with the side walls and upper flight of the apron a roll box and which aids in forming a rotating roll of the fiber to be opened in the manner well understood.

At the inner end of the feed apron is a vertically arranged row of individual opening cylinders 16. Each of the cylinders 16 has an individual doffing cylinder 17. The dofiing cylinders 17 discharge fiber from the opening cylinders 16 into a main fiber flue 18 through which it is delivered to subsequent processes. Due to their close spacing, fiber not doifed from the opening cylinder 16 is stripped therefrom by an adjacent cylinder 16.

Coacting with the fiber in the roll box of the apparatus and with the uppermost opening cylinder 16 is still another opening cylinder 16a which has its individual doflfing cylinder 17a. This dofling cylinder discharges into a flue 18a which joins with the fiber flue 18.

The opening cylinder 16a is partially stripped by means of a doffing cylinder 19 located forwardly thereof as shown in Fig. 1. It is with this cylinder 19 that we associated our improved stripper member. It will be understood that the feed apron 10, the cylinders 16, 16a, 17 and 17a and 19 all are rotated by means not shown whereby fiber fed in unopened form onto the apron is engaged by the opening cylinders, forms a roll on top of the apron and in the space defined by the cylinders 16, 16a and 19, the side walls 12 and 13 and the curved plate 14, thus opening the fiber by engagement of the roll with the teeth of the cylinders and finally being doffed by the cylinders 17 and 17a into the fiber flues.

Our invention consists of the novel mounting for the stripper member associated with the doffing cylinder 19. As best shown in the detail drawings, Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the stripper member is in the form of an angle 21 and has a lower sharpened edge 21a on its vertical leg coacting substantially tangentially with the periphery of the doffing cylinder 19 to strip from the periphery thereof lint carried around by the dofling cylinder. It will also be noted that the member 21 is longer than the doffing cylinder 19 and that it projects at each end through openings 22 in the side walls 12 and 13 of the apparatus.

Mounted by screws or otherwise on each end of the stripper member 21 outside the side walls of the apparatus is a bearing block 23. Since each end of the stripper is identical, a description of one end and the associated structure will suflice for both. The bearing block is drilled as at 24 to fit slidably on a horizontally disposed rod 26. The rod 26 passes through suitable openings in depending bracket members 27 and 28 in turn supported from a horizontal member 29 secured to a suitable part of the framework of the apparatus such as an angle 39. A horizontal plate 31 completes the supporting frame for the movable stripper. The rod 26 may be threaded at each end and may be held in place by means of nuts 32.

Surrounding the rod 26, on the opposite side of the bearing block from the doffing cylinder 19, is a compression spring 33. Threaded through the vertical plate 27 is an adjusting screw 34- which may have a sharpened point 34:! to engage the side of the stripper member 21 opposite the spring 33, thereby to form an adjustable stop for the entire member 21. A lock nut 36 holds the set screw 34 in adjusted position. The bearing block 23 may have a counter bore 37 therein for receiving the associated end of the spring 33.

From the foregoing the method of constructing and using our improved spring biased stripper member or bar may now be explained and understood. It will be seen that the stripper 23. is biased toward the doffing cylinder 19 by the springs 33 and that it is held in adjusted position from the periphery of the saw cylinder by means of the set screws 34. When the doffing cylinder 19 is operating normally and Withdrawing from the roll and from the adjacent cylinder 16a the normal amount of fiber, the stripper 21 remains in the leftward position against the stops under the influence of the springs 33. However, if for any reason tufts of fiber are caught on the periphery of the cylinder w, stripper 21 is free to move bodily laterally of cylinder 19, rightward as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4, compressing the springs 33. This permits the tufts of fibers to be carried around on the saw cylinder 19 past the stripper where they are removed by the top opening cylinder 16a and thus eventually are delivered into the duct 18a by the action of the doffing cylinder 17a. This eliminates choking of the dolfing cylinder 19 at the point of engagement therewith of the sharpened point 21a of the stripper 21. This in turn eliminates the choking of the proceeding cylinders, thereby eliminating choking of the entire apparatus.

One important advantage of our improved construction is that we are enabled to set the point 21a of the member 21 at a close initial setting (about .010 inch clearance) to the periphery of the doffing cylinder 19. This close setting eliminates the necessity of providing a separate fiber duct such as 18a for carrying away fibers directly from the doffing cylinder 19. in other words, due to the close initial setting of the member 211 to the periphery of the doffing cylinder 19 substantially all of the fibers are dotted from the periphery of the cylinder 19. However, if tufts or wads do cling to the periphery of the cylinder 19 the spring biased member 21 moves away without causing choking.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that we have devised an improved self-acting, spring biased stripper member for the doffing cylinders of textile fiber opening apparatus. in actual practice we find that our improved apparatus is fully effective for its intended purposes and substantially eliminates the choking which has heretofore occurred in such apparatus with the required close initial setting of the member 21. Further, by means of the set screws 3d we are enabled to obtain whatever setting may be required depending upon the type of fiber the machine is to operate upon.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible of various changes and modifi cations without departing from the spirit thereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set. forth in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. The combination with a textile fiber opener having an opening cylinder and a dofiing cylinder cooperating therewith, of a stripper member disposed close to the periphery of the dofiing cylinder for stripping the periphery of said dofling cylinder of loose fiber carried thereon, thereby maintaining said doffing cylinder free of fiber, means mounting the stripper member for movement laterally away from the doffing cylinder thereby permitting tufts on the dofiing cylinder to pass the stripper member, and means urging the stripper member toward the dotting cylinder.

2. The combination with a textile fiber opener having an opening cylinder and a doffing cylinder cooperating therewith, of a stripper member disposed close to the periphery of the doffing cylinder for stripping the periphery of said dofiing cylinder to loose fiber carried thereon, thereby maintaining said dofing cylinder free of fiber, means mounting the stripper member for movement laterally away from the dofiing cylinder thereby permitting tufts on the doffing cylinder to pass the stripper member, means urging the stripper member toward the dofiing cylinder, and means limiting the movement of the stripper member toward the dofling cylinder.

3. The combination with a textile fiber opener having an opening cylinder and a dofiing cylinder cooperating therewith, of a stripper member disposed close to the periphery of the dotfing cylinder and for stripping the periphery of said dotting cylinder of loose fiber carried thereon, thereby maintaining said dofiing cylinder free of fiber, means adjacent each end of the stripper member mounting it for movement laterally away from the doffing cylinder thereby permitting tufts on the doifing cylinder to pass the stripper member, means adjacent each end of the stripper member urging it toward the dofiing cylinder, and means adjacent each end of the stripper member limiting its movement toward the dofiing cylinder.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which the means limiting the movement of the stripper member toward the doffing cylinder is adjustable thereby to determine the minimum clearance between the stripper member and the periphery of the dotfing cylinder.

5. In a stripper assembly for use in association with a dofiing cylinder in textile openers, an elongated stripper member disposed for close association with the periphery of the doffing cylinder for stripping the periphery of said dotting cylinder of loose fiber carried thereon, thereby maintaining said doffing cylinder free of fiber, a frame adjacent each end of the stripper member, means carried by the frames supporting the stripper member for bodily movement laterally toward and from the doffing cylinder thereby permitting tufts on the dofiing cylinder to pass the stripper member, stop means on the frames effective to limit the travel of the stripper toward the doffing cylinder, and spring means operatively interposed between the frames and the stripper member effective to urge the stripper member toward the doffing cylinder as limited by said stop means.

6. In a stripper assembly for use in association with a doffing cylinder in textile fiber openers, a stripper member disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the doifing cylinder and close to the periphery thereof for stripping the periphery of said doffing cylinder of loose fiber carried thereby and maintaining said doffing cylinder free of fiber, said stripper member projecting past the ends of the dofiing cylinder, a pin adjacent each end of the stripper member slidably supporting the same for movement laterally of the dofiing cylinder thereby permitting tufts on the doffing cylinder to pass the stripper member, a compression spring surrounding each pin and urging the stripper member toward the doffing cylinder, and adjustable stops adjacent each end of the stripper member limiting movement of the same toward the doifing cylinder.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6 in which the stripper member is in the form of an angle with one of its legs horizontally disposed and the other thereof vertically disposed, the said vertically disposed leg coacting with the doffing cylinder, and a sharpened edge on the end of the vertical leg forming the actual stripper portion of the stripper member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 'Streun Feb. 19, 1918 Asbill et a1. Dec. 26, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 17, 1920 

